Top Six Reasons Why Biochar is Beneficial

There are several benefits claimed for biochar, including better agricultural yields, healthier crops, reduced fertilizer requirements, enhanced soil water retention capacity and drought mitigation, enhanced soil texture, increased microbial activity and variety, and increased soil organic matter. Biochar is being studied as a potential solution to carbon sequestration and global warming.

Fremont, CA:Biochar is essentially 'charred' agricultural waste produced by slowly burning organic materials without oxygen (pyrolysis). This produces a porous, carbon-rich, stable substance that may be put into the soil to improve its qualities. This article enlists six prominent advantages of utilizing biochar:

Soil Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) Increase

Biochar has a vast surface area-to-volume ratio and a strong negative charge. This maintains positively charged cations in the soil, enhancing cation exchange capacity (CEC) and soil fertility. This, in turn, retains more anions, thereby improving retention and lowering nutrient leakage from the soil. In hot, humid tropics, where organic matter decomposes quickly and heavy rainfall leaches sandy soils, biochar can mean the difference between subsistence and productive farming.

Biochar Adds Nutrients to the Soil

This is determined by the nutritional content of the materials utilized, known as 'feedstock,' and the procedures employed in their production. Biochar, like manure and compost, should be evaluated for nutrient content before application because nutrient content varies greatly, and biochar applications are often bulky. Toxic ions in biochar should also be investigated.

Increase in Soil Water Holding Capacity

Studies prove that adding biochar to soil may significantly boost its water retention capacity. This is owing to the biochar's large surface area and porosity. Soils with a higher water holding capacity provide more agricultural yields and require less irrigation. Increased water retention capacity in rain-fed crops can be the difference between crop production and crop failure. Soil water improvement depends on soil type, biochar characteristics, and application rates.

 

Increases Soil Microbial Activity and Diversity

The biochar's high porosity, paired with its water and nutrient-holding capacity, produces a safe refuge for bacteria in the soil, allowing them to thrive throughout fallow and drought times. Biochar can also provide an energy source for specific microorganisms. Increasing microbial activity has various benefits for plants: enhanced nutrient recycling decreases leaching, making nutrients more available to plants, captures nitrogen from the air, retains and adds carbon to the soil, and reduces pests and illnesses. This generally reduces the need for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, with commercial and environmental advantages.

Improvement of Soil Structure

The enhanced CEC, microbial, and root activity in biochar-amended soil promotes soil aggregate formation and a more stable permeable physical structure. This improves water infiltration and storage, which is beneficial for drought mitigation. A porous soil provides for improved gas exchange, with carbon dioxide going out, oxygen moving in, and nitrogen exchange, which encourages root development.

Agricultural Pollution Reduction

Increased soil nutrient retention reduces soluble fertilizer and chemical leakage into groundwater. Chelation and increased microbial activity degrade insecticides. Improvements to the physical structure result in less runoff and erosion. Reducing overall fertilizer and chemical consumption significantly minimizes the danger of agricultural contamination.